Solar panels recently installed outside of Lincoln Theatre, Univ Hartford, CT, USA
source: U Hartford Informer /Feb 1, 2007
http://media.www.hartfordinformer.com/
As many students may have noticed, the University has recently installed solar panels that track the sun near Lincoln Theater. What many students may not have known is that there have already been solar panels on the roof of Lincoln Theater since May of last year. So far, these solar panels are estimated to produce about 10 percent of the buildings consumed power. In real figures, it would be between 17,000 and 18,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity a year. While 10 percent may not seem that much, an average person living in Connecticut pays 16 cents per kilowatt-hour. When the math is done, the amount of money spent equals roughly out to about $2800. Another promising feature is that the electricity production is 10 percent higher than predicted. These estimates have yet to include the newly installed tracking solar panels which are 2.8 kilowatts in power.
In truth, the tracking solar panels actually have two purposes. It’s first is, of course, to generate electricity; however, its second role is not all that different from its first. The panels were also intended to generate awareness about the project itself. Professor Barry Lubin from CETA is at the forefront of making this school more “green” with his choice: photovoltaic panels. Photovoltaics, in short, are solar panels that generate “free” electricity as long as there is sufficient sun to absorb. When asked about his opinion on the success of the tracking panels overall, he said, “I wanted to have them put in front of ISET, not Lincoln Theater. I won the fight in getting the tracking solar panels, but I lost the fight in the locale.” Lubin went on to say that “we can learn a lot of things from having actual solar panels at our university for students to observe.” Lubin also teaches a class which includes intensive studies in photovoltaic panels.
When asked about his opinion in relation to the University’s environmental friendliness, Lubin said, “We are behind the curve. The thought is there but we are not putting it into practice as much as we should.” It seems to be true that our school is, in fact, there theoretically, as we do have a Clean Energy Institute at our school. The Web site for that is http://uhaweb.hartford.edu/eac/CEI_Site/index.html.
Presently, the Clean Energy Institute has several proposals that the school is working on, but any progress is unfortunately hampered by the cost of the equipment proposed. The final cost was around $140,000 for the roof solar panels and $26,000 for the tracking version. Approximately 50 percent of the $140,000 was subsidized, as well as about 30 percent of the $26,000. This lowers the figure remarkably, but to most, this energy alternative would still seem expensive. Members of the Institute also pointed out that even though the initial investment was large, the long term predictions will have the solar panels pay for themselves and provide “free” energy to the University, which is friendly to the environment.